For years it has been the goal of communications and information transfer to be able to communicate, collaborate, obtain and exchange information with parties that we are associated with. Because of the dynamic increase of information sources via the internet, and because of the simultaneous increase in modes of communication, many of them being real time, many now find themselves overloaded by information and communications. Added to that problem, the fact that each individual must also act in several capacities or persona such as personal, professional, etc., there is a problem of what information and communications to focus on and when.
Corporations have been concerned about the productivity losses due to spam, spit, spyware, viruses, and other worthless and/or damaging communications. They have innovated many different products, that when coupled with corporate policies, try to filter many of these malware or threats out. Studies have been conducted about the use of Instant Messaging (IM), Twitter®, and other social media sites such as Facebook®. There are indications that much of this communication content provides no real benefit to a user's work or personal endeavors. As a result, this becomes another threat to personal and professional effectiveness and productivity.